Ancestry.com to Acquire Archives.com For $100 Million in Cash
From the Ancestry.com Blog:
You may already know of Archives.com – a fast-growing family history site that has clearly attracted new users to family history with a product that is easy to use and one that has proven to be a great way for people to get started with family history.
Over the past two years, Archives.com has done a great job building strong relationships with a number of key family history organizations, including a partnership with the U.S. National Archives to provide free digital access to the recently released 1940 U.S. Federal Census. These types of relationships, along with some creative content acquisition strategies, have helped build out Archives.com robust collection of 2.1 billion family history records and expand the interest in family history.
So what does this all mean? It means that the acquisition will enable Ancestry.com to add a differentiated service targeted to a complementary segment of the growing family history category. In addition, Ancestry.com will welcome a team of talented engineers, digital marketers, and family history innovators into the Ancestry.com fold and also gain access to a proprietary technology platform that has supported Archives.com’s rapid growth.
Read the Complete Blog Post
Update: According to an Archives.com News Release, the Sale Price was $100 Million in Cash
Once the acquisition is completed, Ancestry.com will continue to operate and develop Archives.com using the existing Archives.com brand and website. Most of the Archives.com team, including key personnel in leadership, engineering, design, marketing, and business development, will transition to Ancestry.com.
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“The 1940 census release was an extraordinary event for both Archives.com and family history in general,” said Inflection [parent of Archives.com] Executive VP of Business and Corporate Development John Spottiswood. “It spawned a new level of mainstream awareness about family history, and we’re excited that this momentum will only grow as Archives.com joins the Ancestry family.”
The sale proceeds will further enhance Inflection’s existing product line and accelerate the development of a soon-to-be-announced major new product offering in the online identity space.
Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Management and Leadership, News, Patrons and Users, Resources
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
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